Overview

Abstract (English)

A flexible postsecondary education system provides college and university studentswith opportunities to transfer between programs and institutions when their aspirationsand circumstances change. There exists a large body of research that describesthe socio-demographic characteristics and academic trajectories of transfer studentsin Ontario as well as other Canadian jurisdictions, and more recent research has examinedthe labour market performance of transfer students following graduation (see, for example,Finnie, Dubois, and Miyairi 2017). Much less is known, however, about borrowing costs amongtransfer students. This study aims to fill gaps in the literature related to trends in studentborrowing among transfer and non-transfer students in Ontario’s postsecondary system.This research utilizes and links two datasets from Statistics Canada’s Educational LabourMarket Longitudinal Platform (ELMLP): Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) andCanada Student Loans Program (CSLP). The data linkages provide a unique opportunityto carry out a comprehensive system wide analyses of student debt among transfer studentsin Ontario. These datasets are used in this study to address the following research questions: 1. What are the characteristics of direct-entry and transfer students who enteredpostsecondary in Ontario in 2009? 2. What are the characteristics of student loan holders across transfer groupings? 3. Which educational pathways lead to the largest student debt burden upon graduation? 4. Are there significant differences in student debt across educational pathways? 5. Which variables are important predictors of post-secondary pathways and student debt? Highlights Transfer students were less likely to complete their programs than their direct-entry counterparts, and they were more likely to borrow government student loans. Transfer students were enrolled in their programs longer than non-transfer students, which resulted in a heftier financial burden—particularly among those whose transfer involved university. * Federal student loan holders enrolled for the longest period of time were those who entered university and transferred to college, as well as those entered into college and transferred to university. * The highest amount of student debt was incurred by students who transferred betweenuniversities and direct-entry university students; direct-entry college students incurred theleast amount of debt. Demographic (i.e., gender, age, country of birth, parental income), program-related factors (field of study, length of study), and transfer pathways were important predictors of reliance on government funding to subsidize the cost of postsecondary education. * Female students, on average, incurred more debt by the end of their studies than male students. * Students who entered PSE later (i.e., 19-year-olds) tended to borrow more money than younger students (i.e., 17- to 18-year-olds). * Students born outside of Canada were less likely to borrow a federal student loan than Canadian-born students; however, among borrowers, those who were born outside of Canada incurred more debt, on average, than students born in Canada. * Students who studied in the humanities and social sciences had, on average, the lowest amount of debt at the end of their programs, while those who studied the fine arts had the highest amount of debt. In Southern Ontario schools, females show higher probabilities of taking four (university to university, college to university, college to college, and swirler) of the five transfer routes compared to males. The only transfer type where males show a higher probability is university to college transfer. In Northern Ontario, however, it is males who have higher probabilities of taking all five of the transfer pathways. Older students (age 22 and above) in both regions show higher probabilities of taking university to university and non-transfer university pathways and lower probabilities of taking college to college and non-transfer college pathways. However, in northern institutions, older students show higher chances of university to college transfer, lower chances of college to university transfer, and a higher probability of swirling. In southern institutions, the opposite is true, as younger students show higher chances of university to college transfer, lower chances of college to university transfer, and a higher probability of swirling. In both Southern and Northern Ontario, students from lower parental income backgrounds were significantly more likely to take many of the various postsecondary pathways, such as college to university, college to college, non-transfer college, and swirler, than take the non-transfer university route compared to those from higher parental income backgrounds. In both regions, arts/humanities students stand out as having higher chances of taking university to university, university to college, and swirler transfer routes, while social science students also show higher chances of university to college and college to university transfer. Health students show the highest probabilities of college to university and college to college transfer. In Southern Ontario, the natural sciences and social sciences stand out as having the highest probabilities of taking the non-transfer university pathway. In Northern Ontario, the arts/humanities show greater separation from the other fields in terms of their chances of university to university and university to college transfer, and the social sciences also show significantly higher chances of university to university transfer.

Abstract (French)

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